Dyeing your hair is always exciting: it’s good to shake it up once in a while. But, as I’m sure all my fellow bottle blondes will know, the upkeep is a real pain in the ass. Dyeing your hair blonde presents a real range of problems; from shades shifting from icy blonde to brassy orange within a matter of weeks, to the unpreventable issue of dark roots, we’ve got our work cut out for us. And yes, of course, if you’re made of money you can afford to go to the salon every month and maintain the perfect blonde barnet, but lets face it most of us aren’t, especially us students. Though it’s pretty near impossible to match the perfection of a salon, I have searched far and wide and found some half decent budget alternatives that will keep you going for four or five months, rather than four of five weeks!
(Photo credit: about.beauty)
If, like me, brassiness is what irritates you the most (my flatmate once moaned about a “ginger hair” being in the shower. This was in fact mine…) then fear not, there is a mystical magical creation out there known as purple shampoo. Based on the basic principle of opposite tones cancelling each other out, it turns out that purple and yellow are technically opposite colours. This means that using purple shampoo should cancel out any overtly yellow-ish tones in your hair, returning it to the cool blonde that it started as. Naturally, there are some pretty expensive ones out there, but John Frieda does one on the cheap. Their Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Tone Correcting Shampoo and Conditioner genuinely does the trick, and it’s really, really pretty too.
If you’re already pretty blonde and you want to naturally lighten your hair, or at least kick it in the right direction, John Frieda does a Lightening Shampoo and Conditioner too, at just two for £8. Much easier than the mess you caused squeezing lemons into your hair back in the day, am I right?
Photo Credit: beautybulletin
Arguably the biggest problem for those whose hair is victim to the horror that is bleach is the inevitability of your hair becoming the texture of straw. Unfortunately, bleach will do that to ya, my friend. The best advice I can offer you is to use some form of hair mask or restoring treatment maybe once every week or fortnight. There are absolutely millions of them out there, ranging in price and quality. But most of the time the really good ones are pretty pricey. London’s Bleach salon, however, has found a middle ground. The Bleach Reincarnation Mask will restore elasticity to dyed hair and just keep it as healthy as it can be.
(Photo credit: Bleach London)
And finally, the pinnacle of problems for the bottle blonde: dark roots. I’m sorry pal, it’s nature, it’s gonna happen. Unfortunately, the only truly cheap solution is to embrace it, and rock the look, and I for one think the look is pretty cool (and that’s not just because I’m too poor right now not to be sporting it myself…). If you need any more convincing, here’s some inspiration to power you through. Keep doing you gals!